SEX AFFECTED BY PARENTS AGE. 



12: 



prietor wished to obtain male lambs chiefly, he recom- 

 mended him to put strong and vigorous rams, four or 

 five years old. The following tabular view contains 

 the result of his experiment : — 



" The general law, as far as we are able to detect 

 it, seems to be, that when animals are in good condi- 

 tion, plentifully supplied with food, and kept from 

 breeding as fast as they might do, they are most likely 

 to produce females. Or, in other words, when a race 

 of animals is in circumstances favourable for its increase. 

 Nature produces the greatest number of that sex which, 

 in animals that do not pair, is most efficient for increas- 

 ing the number of the race. But if they are in a bad 

 climate, or on a stinted pasture, or if they have already 

 given birth to a numerous offspring, then Nature, 

 setting limits to the increase of the race, produces more 

 males than females. Yet, perhaps, it may be premature 

 to attempt to deduce any law from experiments which 



